At last Demeter faltered, and his voice tost its strength. Taita laid a hand on his brow, which was as cool as a gravestone. 'Peace, Demeter,'
he whispered. 'Sleep now. Leave your memories to the ages. Return to the present.'
Demeter shuddered and relaxed. He slept until sunset, then woke as naturally and calmly as though nothing unusual had occurred. He seemed refreshed and fortified. He ate the fruit Taita brought to him with good
appetite and drank the soured goat's milk, while the retainers struck camp, then loaded the tents and baggage on to the camels. When the caravan started out he was strong enough to walk a short way beside Taita.
'What memories did you extort from me while I slept?' he asked, with a smile. 'I remember nothing, so nothing it must have been.'
'You were present when the foundations of E-temen-an-ki were dug and laid,' Taita told him.
Demeter stopped short and turned to him with amazement. 'I told you that?'
In reply Taita mimicked some of the voices and languages Demeter had used in his trance. At once Demeter identified each utterance.
His legs soon tired, but his enthusiasm was unaffected. He mounted his palanquin and stretched out on the mattress. Taita rode beside him, and they continued their conversation throughout the long night. At last Demeter asked a question that was central in both their minds: 'Did I speak of Eos? Were you able to uncover some hidden memory?'
Taita shook his head. 'I was careful not to alarm you. I did not broach the matter directly but allowed your memories to range freely.'
'Like a hunter with a pack of hounds,' Demeter suggested, with a sudden surprising cackle. 'Take care, Taita, that while casting for a stag you do not startle a man-devouring lioness.'
'Your memories reach so far that trying to trace Eos is like voyaging across the widest ocean in search of a particular shark among a great multitude. We might spend another lifetime before we stumble by chance upon your memories of her.'
'You must direct me to her,' Demeter said, without hesitation.
'I am fearful for your safety, perhaps even your life,' Taita demurred.
'Shall we send out the hounds again on the morrow? This time you must give them the scent of the lioness.'
They were quiet for the rest of the night, lost in their own thoughts and memories. At the first light of dawn they reached a tiny oasis and Taita called a halt among the date palms. The animals were fed and watered while the tents were erected. As soon as they were alone in the main tent, Taita asked, 'Would you like to rest a while, Demeter, before we make the next attempt? Or are you ready to begin at once?'
'I have rested all night. I am ready now.'
Taita studied the other's face. He seemed calm and his pale eyes were serene. Taita held up the Periapt of Lostris. 'Your eyes grow heavy. Let them close. You feel quiet and secure. Your limbs are heavy. You are very
comfortable. You listen to my voice, and you feel sleep coming over you … blessed sleep . .. deep, healing sleep . . .'
Demeter dropped away more swiftly than he had on their first attempt: he was becoming increasingly susceptible to Taita's quiet suggestion.
'There is a mountain that breathes fire and smoke. Do you see it?'
For a moment Demeter was deathly still. His lips paled and quivered.
Then he shook his head in wild denial. 'There is no mountain! I see no mountain!' His voice rose and cracked.
'There is a woman on the mountain,' Taita persisted, 'a beautiful woman. The most beautiful woman on earth. Do you see her, Demeter?'
Demeter began to pant like a dog, his chest pumping like the bellows of a coppersmith. Taita felt that he was losing him: Demeter was fighting the trance, trying to break out of it. He knew that this must be their last attempt for the old man was unlikely to survive another.
'Can you hear her voice, Demeter? Listen to the sweet music of her words. What is she saying to you?'
Now Demeter was wrestling with an invisible opponent, rolling about on his mattress. He drew his knees and elbows up to his chest and curled his body into a ball. Then his limbs shot out straight and his back arched. He babbled with the voices of madmen, he gibbered and giggled.
He gnashed his teeth until one shattered at the back of his jaw, then spat out the shards in a mixture of blood and saliva.
'Peace, Demeter!' Panic rose in Taita, like a pot coming to the boil.
'Be still! You are safe again.'
Demeter's breathing eased, and then he spoke unexpectedly in the arcane Tenmass of the adepts. His words were strange but his tone was even more so. His voice was no longer that of an old man, but of a young woman, sweet and melodious, as musical as Taita had ever heard.
'Fire, air, water and earth, but the lord of these is fire.' Every languid inflection engraved itself into Taita's mind. He knew he would never erase the sound.
Demeter collapsed back upon the mattress. The rigidity left his body.
His eyes fluttered closed. His breathing stilled, and his chest ceased heaving. Taita feared that his heart must have burst, but when he placed his ear to his ribs he heard it beating to a muted but regular rhythm.
